Fear of Fire
by FanFictionKatie
Summary: Just a oneshot about if Azula hadn't been captured after the war.


The wall of fire creeps closer, bright flames threatening to burn me to a crisp. I back away, sweat pouring down my face and soaking my shirt. I trip on a rock and crumple to the ground. The flames surround me now, and I choke on ash. I spot a puddle of water by me, and I try to bend it in an attempt to protect myself. I throw my arms up, expecting the water to turn the fire to steam, but nothing happens. I try again. Still nothing! I can't bend! I curl up in a ball, as the flames close in closer. Through the fire and thick smoke, I see a face. I squint to see who it is and scream. Azula! She advances, making a path through the flames for herself. She laughs loudly, the kind of laugh that tells you they are insane, and they will probably kill you. Then she summons lightning, points it at me, and shoots. I can see the lightning crackle and come towards me at an incredible speed. I close my eyes tightly. There's no escape, and-

I wake up, drenched in sweat and tear stains. I blink a few times.

"It was just a dream," I tell myself.

"What?" Aang asks, sitting up.

"Nothing, I- it was just a bad dream," I assure him, but the new tears flowing down my face and the quavering in my voice does nothing to help prove it.

"Oh, Katara, what's wrong? What happened in your dream?" he asks, worry in his eyes. He starts massaging my shoulders, knowing it helps calm me. And it does. I take a few deep breaths.

"There was a lot of fire, and.. Azula was there! She shot lightning at me and I woke up," I say quietly.

"Oh," Aang says simply, his brows furrowing.

"Aang, I'm scared. Azula is still on the loose, after all these years! No one has captured her, and I don't want anything to happen to us!" I say, hysteria threatening to take over.

"Honey, it's fine!" Aang says, kissing me on the forehead. "I'll send a message to Toph and ask her about the search."

"Thank you," I say, feeling better. "I overreacted, it was just a dream."

"Katara.. You know I care about you. _Any _problem you have, no matter how big or small, I will help you get through," Aang says, sincerity in his eyes.

"And that, right there, is why I married you," I say kissing him briefly. He smiles. We get up out of bed, and Aang gets ready to go over to Sokka's house. He's the one with the messenger hawk. I get dressed, then head to the bathroom to fix up my hair. Just as I'm clipping my last hair loopy, I hear Aang call.

"Have you seen my glider?" he asks. I walk downstairs to him, in the living room.

"I think you left it upstairs," I say, indicating to the bedroom.

"Thanks," he says, and goes up the stairs five at a time. Airbender thing. I bend some water into a glass, and drink it, then I wash the tears and sweat off my face. The water is cool, and refreshing. I then make some egg custard tart. I make a quick crust, and whip up the filling while it bakes. It takes less than five minutes. I put some into a bowl for myself, and serve some up in a portable dish for Aang. I know it's his favorite. He comes gliding down the wide staircase, and lands, twirling his staff.

"Show off," I say, laughing. He grins, and looks over to the table.

"Is that... egg custard tart?" he asks, eyes widening. Priceless reaction.

"Yeah, I thought you could take it for your journey," I say.

"It's just a few miles," he says, scratching his neck. "But I'd better get going." He hugs me quickly, then grabs the egg custard tart.

"Bye honey!" I call.

"Bye sweetie!" he calls back from his glider, and I can tell his mouth is already filled with the tart. I wash the few dishes I just made, which takes seconds due to my waterbending. I decide I should probably train some more. Anything to take my mind off the dream. I keep imagining Azula kicking through the doors, and setting everything and everyone I love aflame. I know it's unreasonable.. But fears are fears. I guess you could call mine Arsonphobia, but I'm more afraid of Azula than the fire itself. She's insane, and powerful. That combination is lethal without a doubt. I shake my head, and fill a bucket with water. I bend a wave out of it, then freeze and separate it into sharp points. Points. Sharp. Fingernails. Azula has long fingernails. Fingernails that rip your eyes out and burn you until there's nothing left of you than a pulp. I shiver. How did I relate cold, ice spikes, to hot, fiery, Azula? This is a problem. I need to be with Aang, make sure nothing happens to him. I don't know why I'm so worried all of the sudden, we haven't seen Azula since Aang defeated Ozai, she could be dead for all we know. But still... I strap on my pouch of water, and slip on my shoes. I step outside, warm summer air hitting me as I open the door. I breathe in the strong scent of garlic, Aang and I love it, so we grow it. I walk down the steps by the front door, and then spread my feet into a sturdy stance. I bend all the water out of my pouch, then use the frozen slide move to propel myself into the air, The wind whistles by, and I see Aang up ahead, but still small in the distance, I push the ice forward faster, straining with the effort.

"Aang!" I call, most of my voice lost in the roaring wind. I see him stop in middair, and turn around. He sees me, and glides in my direction. Soon he's along side me, both of us heading the same way.

"Hey sweetie, why are you out here?" he asks.

"I'm sorry, it's just, the dream is still bothering me. I needed to stay with you," I say, embarrased as I realize it's a stupid reason.

"Well that's good, I missed you," Aang says. In one fluid movement I melt my slide, bend it back into my pouch, and Aang flies below me. I grab onto the top of his glider. I've gotten good at not losing my grip.

"It's too bad Toph is using Appa, it would have been more comfortable," I say over the wind.

"Oh, well, we're almost there," Aang replies as he dips the front of the glider and we start heading downwards. I spot Sokka and Suki's house, the biggest and brightest one on the block. It's painted bright yellow, and It's part igloo. I have to go over there every week to re-freeze it. We land softly on the grass. Arms linked, we head towards the door. I knock, and I hear a splat, then smell something disgusting. Oh, it must be Sokka's experiment to notice when someone's at the door. The knock triggers a rotten egg to fall, splat on the floor and stink up the whole place. It's usually pretty loud and busy at the house, which is why he made it in the first place.

"Sokka, I think it worked," I hear Suki say. Her voice is higher than usual and I assume she's plugging her nose. She opens the door, and I'm right. Sokka, on the other hand, inhales deeply.

"Ah, the smell of sweet success," he says, but then gags and plugs his own nose. "So what are you here for, anyway?" he asks. "You aren't due to freeze the igloo for another four days."

"We need to borrow Hawky," Aang says.

"Oh, sure thing!" Sokka says.

"I'll go grab him," Suki offers and hurries off to a different room. She comes back with a bird with glistening feathers and a superior expression on his face. "Spoiled bird," she says in a mockingly sweet tone while stroking his feathers. She sets him on Aangs arm, and Sokka hands me some parchment and ink.

"Thanks, see you later!" Aang and I say as we turn to go.

"Oh, can you re-freeze the igloo while you're here? It's pretty hot out today," Suki requests.

"Sure thing!" I say. I step outside, followed by Aang. We arrange an identical stance, and freeze all the water dripping from the igloo half of the house. It just takes a couple of seconds, then we hop back onto the glider. The ride home is silent as I ponder what we will send to Toph. As we land, I voice my thoughts.

"Aang, what are we going to send to Toph? 'Katara had a bad dream and now you have to capture Azula'?" I ask. "That sounds dumb!"

"Weeelll, that sounds about right, we'll just word it differently," Aang says, a twinkle in his eyes. "Follow me," he says. We walk over to the kitchen table and Aang sets Hawky down. I give him the ink and parchment, and grab a quill.

"Work your magic" I say. Aang is a great writer. And since Toph is really high ranked in Republic City, someone can read it to her. Aang is scrawling down words on the paper faster than I can read. I look over his shoulder. In neat handwriting, I read:

Toph,

Hi, it's Aang and Katara. We're just wondering how your search for Azula is going. We're worried, due to recent events occurring. If you could do anything to get back to us, please do at your earliest chance.

Thanks!

Aang, and

"Please sign here," Aang says, handing me the quill and indicating to the bottom of the page.

"It's not neces-" I begin.

"Please sign here," Aang repeats. He loves having things official. So I lean in close to him and scrawl down my name. "Thanks," he says. I roll up the paper, and give it to Hawky.

"Bring this to Toph, in Republic City" I say clearly. Hawky seems to nod, then sets off.

"There, I hope this does something to comfort you. Republic city is only 30 minutes away, We should have a reply by tomorrow. Now will you join me for some, 'hot leaf juice'?" Aang asks, getting tea off the shelf and heating the water with firebending. Once the tea is brewed, he gives me a cup and I sip it.

"Ooh, raspberry. My favorite!" I exclaim.

"I knew it!" Aang says triumphantly. I drink some more, and he takes a swig of his own. We finish our tea, then train in waterbending together for awhile.

An hour later, as Aang and I are working on a large water whip, we hear a thump. A loud thump. And it's right in our front yard! All the worst case scenarios start flooding my head. Has Azula finally come? Does she still have that knife girl with her? My eyes must widen, because Aang says,

"Calm down, it's just Toph. I can feel it." We walk downstairs, and see a large hole in the ground Toph standing beside it. She flicks her hand, and it fills in.

"Hey twinkle toes, sugar queen," she says.

"Hi Toph," we say, wincing at the old nicknames. I embrace the old friend.

"It's been so long! How's it going teaching the metalbending academy _and _being a cop in Republic City?" Aang asks.

"Do you doubt me?" Toph teases. We laugh. "It's going great. The Lily Livers are actually managing to throw around some hunks of metal!"

"Well, you're doing a good job then," I say. "But, how's the search?" I ask anxiously.

"Someone have a bad dream? Is that what this is about," Toph asks suddenly, grinning.

"What- how did you know?" I ask, amazed.

"Ka_tar_a! You are shaking like.. Something that shakes _a lot!_" she says.

"Yes, that's what this is about. Please update us, I don't want my wife to be worried," Aang says.

"Okay, okay. We haven't found Azula, but we think we have her trail," Toph says.

"Oh thank goodness! If you find her, please tell us!" I say.

"Well, that shouldn't take too long. Some people are coming, and they have news," she says, eyebrows raised. The door opens, and about twenty lower ranked cops come in serious expressions on their faces.

"Mrs. Beifong, we have found Azula," one says in a deep voice.

"Sweet, lemme see," Toph says. I gasp. After all this time, she's been found? We follow the guards outside, and see a large cart with a sheet on top. Pulling the sheet back, I see something horrifying, yes satisfying. Azula, hair mangled and clothes torn, lies, thrashing in a straight jacket. She keeps screaming something about 'mother,' or 'mother you hate me', while breathing indigo fire from her mouth. The heat reflects back onto her in the stone cart, and she is drenched in sweat. She sees us, and looks directly at me.

"You. Will. Pay," she says, but I know that will never happen. She is a wreck, and is chained, despite the straight jacket.

"Don't worry, she's secure. No more problems will come from this one," Toph says. I breath a large sigh of relief. All is well now. Azula's done with. All the fear I had instantly vanishes, and I hug Aang.

"Thank you, sweetie" I say, kissing him.

"All in a day's work for the avatar," he says, grinning. We walk back inside, and continue our training.

_A/N:This story takes place after the war, while republic city is being built. Aang and Katara are married. I decided to write what might happen if Azula wasn't captured after the war, if she had somehow fled. I hope you enjoyed it, please review!_


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